We're officially one week into the New Year, but Christmas isn't quite finished. My Mom had mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I should write something about "Six Christmases," and while I didn't think I would, here I am doing it in January. For my little ones, Holiday 2012 brought Six Christmases. We've got five down and one to go. This blog entry is geared largely for our family to get a look at our December.

We all know that Santa Claus is a giving fellow, but few know that he has a different side... one where he takes more than cookies and milk in exchange for all those Christmas presents. It's a cautionary tale... one that warns of hiding mistletoe... grab yourself a FREE DOWNLOAD of "Santa Stole My Lady" from FITZ AND THE TANTRUMS below.

The folks over at PBS KIDS have 20+ educational mobile apps available for download. In addition, they recently conducted a study that revealed that fifty-eight percent (58%) of parents of kids 2-10 reported that they will “most likely” or “definitely” be purchasing downloadable gifts such as apps, games, e-books and digital music this holiday season. Are you a tech-savvy family? Is your toddler a gadget wizard? If so, here's some recent Apps from PBS KIDS that would make great gifts...

While we just broke the record for "days without significant snowfall" here in the Chicago area (281 days and counting for those that care), it's technically Snowman Season for a lot of folks with plenty of fresh, white powder on the ground. As a celebration of the season, Oxford, UK-based children's performer NICK COPE has released a new Holiday song called "Snowman Kind of Day." It's a great new tune for the family, and he's offering it up for a free download!

When I heard that SteveSongs was releasing a free holiday single called "Our World," I immediately thought (and hoped) that it would be a cover of the song from EMMET OTTER'S JUGBAND CHRISTMAS. It is not... but it's still worth getting! SteveSongs' "Our World" is available as a Free Download now through December 31 via this link.

RENEE AND JEREMY have just released the music video for the title track to their SUNNY CHRISTMAS EP. Assembled as a compilation of photos submitted by friends and fans, the full piece can be viewed below.

CHRISTINA PERRI recently released A VERY MERRY PERRI CHRISTMAS, a six-song collection of new holiday recordings for 2012. "Let it Snow" is a holiday classic that doesn't appear on the new EP, but Christina recently performed the song in The Live Room for The Warner Sound. Recorded at The Fortress in Los Angeles, you can check out "Let it Snow" along with a bonus performance of her hit "A Thousand Years" below...

This is one of those that was a toss-up as to where to file it here on The Rock Father... not really "music for kids," but not just "for grownups" either. Since it's more of a track for rockin' families in general, I'm just putting the new video from the DROPKICK MURPHYS here in my blog. In fact, I think that going forward, any holiday music that's not specifically kid-centric will go in my blog instead of "news." You could say it's some "Housekeeping" in a way. In terms of the holidays, "The Season's Upon Us," and that just so happens to be the name of the DROPKICK MURPHYS' new single and video. Check it out!

There have been a lot of cool "Monthly Subscription" activities popping up for kids lately, and one that just hit my radar here at Rock Father HQ is Little Passports. A perfect holiday gift idea that's both fun and educational, Little Passports delivers kids a package each month from "Sam and Sofia," a pair of characters that visit different states and countries, and then share their experiences. Inside each package is a collection of fun activities and souvenirs.